“…And everybody hates the Jews”

Attacks on Jewish people worldwide are surging — proving, as satirist Tom Lehrer intoned in his powerful and ever-relevant “National Brotherhood Week” anthem, that antisemitism never goes out of style.

by Emily Kay

Persons of a certain vintage may recall (and I urge others to discover) the brilliant MIT prof/musical satirist tickling the ivories as he crooned that, at least for seven days a year, various groups shelved their mutual vitriol.

🎶Oh the white folks hate the Black folks,
And the Black folks hate the white folks,
To hate all but the right folks,
Is an old established rule.🎶

Hate still very much in vogue

As hate crimes rise across the globe, the increase is especially alarming in the U.S. The more than 7,700 reports of hate crimes the U.S. Justice Department reported in 2020 surged to their highest level since 2008. In 2021, the U.S. ranked the 69th least tolerant of 78 countries that the World Population Review studied. Offenses that the FBI deems hate crimes against Black Americans, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and all other minorities jumped 44% in major cities last year. 

Assaults on people, property, and society based on hatred for race, gender, gender identity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity are a constant in the U.S., thanks to institutionalized racism. The hate-spewing ex-president, who openly supported such attacks (“very fine people”) and continues, in exile, to stoke the flames of racism, is also to blame for much of the hike in white nationalist domestic terrorism over the past few years.

While the total number of offenses are often underreported, and FBI stats showed antisemitic aggressions down in 2020 from 2019, the Anti-Defamation League recently reported a 27% rise last year in antisemitic messaging, which should alarm all of us. Indeed, 82% of Jews responding to a 2021 survey by the American Jewish Committee believed that antisemitism had risen in the previous five years.

🎶Oh, the poor folks hate the rich folks,
And the rich folks hate the poor folks.
All of my folks hate all of your folks,
It’s American as apple pie.🎶

There’s been an alarming flood of antisemitism attacks in Massachusetts.

Horrors such as the 2018 Tree of Life Synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and this year’s terrifying hostage situation at Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville, Texas, are clearly visceral attacks on the Jewish community. And they are everywhere. FBI stats show that bigots target Jews in the U.S. in 55% of all religiously motivated hate crimes, while we comprise only 2% of the population.

Right here — in our bluer-than-blue home — recent attacks include fires and firebombs at Jewish-related facilities, and the stabbing of a rabbi outside a Jewish school and camp. As the Boston Globe’s Adrian Walker noted, “When it comes to acting out of hate, Massachusetts isn’t nearly as exceptional as some residents would like to think.”

What is antisemitism?

Antisemitism includes both physical violence and subtle microaggressions like making or ignoring offensive comments, ”jokes,” and negative stereotypes. During a recent anti-abortion debate, a Kentucky lawmaker ranted outrageously about Jewish women’s sex lives and told the horrific lie that during the Holocaust Jews developed the “abortion pill” to make money. That, after two other GOP Kentucky state legislators suggested their colleagues “Jew them down” during negotiations for a state lease agreement.

Progressives: Check your antisemitism

Concord Indivisible condemns all hate crimes and stands firmly with all targeted groups. But it’s not just far-right white supremacists in red states who pose threats. The extreme political left represents an antisemitic danger as well, according to 71% of the 1,400 American Jews that the American Jewish Committee surveyed in 2021.

Ongoing hostilities in the Middle East always ramp up anti-Jewish rhetoric among many progressives. As the Organization for Security and Cooperation In Europe noted, some use international issues as an excuse to propagate antisemitism. To express a “wish to destroy the state of Israel is an unacceptable form of modern antisemitism,” U.N. Secretary General António Guterres said in 2017. 

While criticism of Israel is not necessarily antisemitic (and slamming actions of the country’s government may be warranted), some of the judgment surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict arises from antisemitic bigotry. That includes the myth of a global Jewish conspiracy, which suggests we dominate the media and financial sectors, and that an American Jew’s link to Israel somehow casts doubt on the person’s loyalty to the United States. It is most definitely antisemitic for progressives to shun Jews who refuse to denounce Israeli policies and actions.

Antisemitism and Ukraine

Russia’s onslaught into Ukraine and Vladimir Putin’s relentless attacks on Ukraine’s Jewish president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy — who lost relatives in the Holocaust — highlight the oft-repeated accusation that Jews are to blame for all wars. Putin’s lie that his naked aggression against his nation’s neighbor is to “denazify” Ukraine is a particularly hideous offense.

“There is no more odious attack on a person of Jewish origin, like Zelenskyy, than the accusation of Nazi collaboration,” Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Stephen Blank wrote late last year. Employing the “language from the ancient armory of hate to indicate the strength of the Russian state’s emotions simply underlines the flaming antisemitism at the heart of the country’s government and the nature of its representatives,” Blank said.

Let’s not forget the age-old depiction of Jews as devils. I’ve actually encountered folks who believe they’re complimenting me when they say, “Gee, you don’t look Jewish.” I have sometimes responded that I had my horns removed at birth — before pointing out the unadulterated bias of their remarks. Here’s the thing, though: It’s not funny.

And don’t even get me started about Holocaust deniers.

🎶Oh, the Protestants hate the Catholics,
And the Catholics hate the Protestants,
And the Hindus hate the muslems,
And everybody hates the Jews.🎶

We ALL must fight antisemitism.

The Anti-Defamation League offers several ways that we can battle antisemitism:

• Speak with friends, family, colleagues, and young people about the consequences of antisemitism, extremism and hate, using ADL’s educational resources to help answer common questions
• Report incidents of antisemitism to ADL, your local Jewish community, and/or local law enforcement
• Become an advocate against hate in the U.S. by signing a petition urging Congress to enact the Jabara-Heyer NO HATE Act and the Domestic Terrorism Prevention Act
• Learn how to stop the spread of hate online by using ADL’s Cyber Safety Action Guide to report incidents directly to social media platforms
• Urge Sens. Warren and Markey to vote to confirm Dr. Deborah Lipstadt as the U.S. Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism

And, if you’re wondering, National Brotherhood Week used to fall in February. The concept originated in 1934 with the National Conference of Christians and Jews (now the National Conference for Community and Justice). Unfortunately, this particular celebration of unity and kindness ended in the 1980s.

Now would seem a good time to revive the concept of “national everyone-smile-at-one-another-hood week.” Hey, it’s but a few measly days out of 365.

🎶Be nice to people who
Are inferior to you.
It’s only for a week, so have no fear.
Be grateful that it doesn’t last all year!🎶